the flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea “severely damaged”

Russia suffered one of its biggest material setbacks since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday (April 13th). The cruiser Moskvaflagship of the Black Sea Fleet, was “severely damaged” by an explosion of ammunition linked to “a fire”, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. An investigation was underway to determine the origin of the disaster, he adds, quoted by the Ria Novosti and Tass agencies. But the Ukrainian authorities, for their part, claim that the Moskva was hit by missiles. “Neptune missiles protecting the Black Sea caused major damage to this Russian ship”welcomed the Ukrainian governor of the Odessa region, Maxime Marchenko.

An adviser to the President of Ukraine, Oleksiy Arestovitch, said on YouTube on Wednesday that“a surprise had happened to the flagship of the Russian fleet” of the Black Sea. “It’s burning with intensity. Now. And with these rough seas, it’s impossible to know when they will be able to receive help.”he said, assuring that “510 crew members” were on board. “We don’t understand what happened”he added.

Commissioned in 1983 as Slavathe cruiser was later renamed Moskva. Equipped with 16 P-1000 Vulcan anti-ship missile launchers as well as a variety of anti-submarine and anti-aircraft weapons, it was assigned in the second half of 2015 to the eastern Mediterranean to protect the Russian air base at Hmeimim, in Syria, according to the Tass agency. In the early days of the war, he took part in an attack on Serpents’ Island, near the Romanian border, in which 19 Ukrainian sailors were captured to be later exchanged for Russian prisoners.